Cameron talks!

In a conversation with Harry of AICN yesterday, the great
and powerful James
Cameron officially admitted that Project 880 is, in
fact, "a retooled version of Avatar." He still, however,
claims not to know which will be made first, Avatar or Battle Angel - according to Cameron, the projects are undergoing
simultaneous development now, so both will theoretically be ready to shoot at the drop of a hat. Whenever production
begins, however, he's expecting a non-stop, three-year run during which he'll move right from wrapping the first into
shooting the second. The way Cameron spins it, the lack of a major star (you may recall the open casting call for Battle
Angel's Alita) in either film is a plus, because the final dates of production won't be dependent upon anyone's
schedule but his. So, to sum up: Project 880=Avatar and James Cameron is an outrageously optimistic person.
That's pretty much it.

Other tidbits from the chat include the fact that Cameron sees Battle Angel
as a trilogy, as well as some tech talk about Cameron's new 3D obsession - if you're into that sort of thing.